Rob MacKillop

To quote Robert Burns: "Eight inch will please a lady".

Well, Gareth, it will take a few weeks or months to feel you are no longer playing patterns, at least for me it will. I like to just doodle with them sometimes, getting into a groove, following my instincts, no backing track or chord chart. I’m stuck around the V7b9 pages, but enjoying it still. One thing that might derail me is getting a new viola da gamba, or bass viol, in a couple of weeks. That’s bound to take most of my attention. I’ve been waiting for it for months. That and the bass will be my main instruments going forward.

Good to see you here, Mark. I think we could open the thread up to including both the Low Down books as well.

Many thanks. I’ve lived with these suites for four decades and on a variety of instruments and tunings, with each instrument and tuning bringing out different shades and colours. There are worst ways to spend one’s time.

Dowland on the bass! I never thought of that. I’ve played most of his works on the lute, where it sits perfectly of course. Never thought of it in 5ths tuning, let alone on a bass. Kudos for exploring that! Any online recording?

The first set I had was the first recording of all six by Anner Bylsma, which I still love some 45 years later. Not so much his second recording of all six. Not sure why. I have his book discussing the suites, and his approach to them which goes against what everyone else does 😆 I don’t know of Queyras. Interpretations tend to fall into two camps: Romantic/Heroic or Earthy Dance Music. Sometimes a combination of the two is attempted. If you can stand listening to the tenor banjo, here’s my take on the first suite: and the 2nd suite on a classical guitar tuned a fifth lower, with special strings from Aquila: Through illness these last two years I now find it very difficult to play fingerstyle, so am spending more time with a bow on my viola da gamba - as close as I’ll get to playing a cello. I find I can also play bass with thumb and index, which explains my investigation in how to transfer Bach to that instrument. It has been useful reading all the comments here.

Bach seemed to have a didactic purpose behind the suites: the first four suites increase in difficulty, the fifth introduces a scordatura, and the sixth adds another string in the treble! By the way, here's my favourite Bach performance. It's on the 5-string piccolo cello by a student:

Cheers. I had a student trying to work from the Josquin book, so I have a good insight into how very much more difficult even the first (simplest) suite is in EADG tuning. I’m not saying it can’t be done, or doesn’t sound good, just that it is far harder than on any other tuning I know. I encourage everyone to explore Bach’s music on their instrument, irrespective of the tuning. It’s still good for the soul!

Henry Cow! Haven’t heard them since the 70s! Great band.

Me too. My wife has. 6-string bass viol, which I’ve been playing for a while, but I’ve just recently received a 7-string, and am ‘in transition’. Most of my repertoire remains for six strings. Good to know there’s another viol player here!

Good idea!

Yes. Anna notates the tuning at the start of the score for the 6th suite, all five strings. It’s an incredible suite, but I have to admit some of it is beyond my skill on any instrument. 😔

And the violoncello da spalla, thought by many scholars to be the instrument Bach wrote for.

Here’s a good introduction to the 5-string piccolo cello, tuned CGDAE. Watch her left-hand fingering at the end. Bach always wrote as if he had the instrument in hand.

Are you 100% sure about that? Edited versions cannot be trusted. I’ll have to look up the Anna Magdelena Bach manuscript again. My understanding is that it was for 4-strings with the first string down a tone, and that the 6th suite was for five strings. But I’m no Bach expert.